Data Archive

PowerShell

PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework developed by Microsoft, consisting of a Command Line shell and an associated scripting language. It is designed to automate system administration tasks across local and remote Windows systems and, with PowerShell Core (now known as PowerShell 7+), across macOS and Linux as well.

Related:

Object-Oriented Architecture: Unlike cmd, which handles plain text, PowerShell processes .NET objects. This allows for structured data manipulation and precise control of outputs. Example:

Get-ChildItem | Select-Object Name, Length, LastWriteTime

Integrated with .NET: PowerShell scripts can invoke .NET classes and use assemblies directly. Example:

[System.IO.File]::ReadAllText("C:\path\to\file.txt")

Cmdlets: PowerShell uses built-in, standardized command modules (cmdlets) for common tasks. These provide consistent naming and behavior, unlike the ad-hoc commands in cmd. Example:

Restart-Service -Name "Spooler"

Advanced Scripting Support: Supports rich scripting constructs such as functions, conditionals, loops, and error handling. Example:

if (Test-Path "file.txt") { Write-Output "Exists" } else { Write-Output "Missing" }

Pipeline with Objects: PowerShell supports object-based pipelines, enabling powerful command chaining and transformations.

Remote Management: PowerShell includes native support for remote system management via PowerShell Remoting (e.g., Enter-PSSession, Invoke-Command), a capability not present in cmd.

Cross-Platform Compatibility: PowerShell Core (now PowerShell 7+) runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, while cmd is exclusive to Windows.

Built-in Help System: Use Get-Help to access comprehensive documentation directly from the console.
Example:

Get-Help Get-Process -Full
    ```
 
## Supported Script Types
 
PowerShell can interact with multiple script formats and scripting environments:
 
- `.ps1` (PowerShell scripts): Primary automation and configuration scripts.
    
- `.[[bat]]` / `.cmd` (Batch files): Legacy support for traditional Windows scripting.
    
- `.vbs` (VBScript): Executes legacy Visual Basic scripts.
    
- WMI Scripts: Interfaces with Windows Management Instrumentation.
    
- .NET Code Snippets: Full access to .NET APIs.
    
- External Languages: Executes other scripts (e.g., Python) via CLI:
    ```powershell
    python script.py
    ```
    
- Structured Data (JSON/XML): Built-in cmdlets to parse, query, and write structured data:
    ```powershell
    $data = Get-Content config.json | ConvertFrom-Json
    ```
 
 
To Do:
- [ ]  Explore the uses of [[PowerShell]]: see [[Powershell scripts]]

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